'I'm Not Washing My Armpits. . . . You Can Count on That.'

Steve Marino had plenty of gallery support yesterday, and he likely will today as well, provided his fans are fully recovered.

Brandon Stacy came to Congressional yesterday dressed in a hot pink polo shirt, green shorts bearing bright pink flamingos and golf cleats.

"Just in case a caddie drops out," Stacy said of his shoes.

It was a fine outfit, but several beers and five hours in the sun can do bad things to any outfit. The stains weren't terribly hard to notice. Sadly, Stacy's gonna have to wear the outfit again today. And tomorrow. And on Sunday. Because Stacy's good friend, Fairfax County's own Steve Marino, shot a 5 under this morning to seize the first-round lead, and his caddie announced that the outfit stays.

"Can't change," ordered the caddie, G.W. Cable, another longtime Fairfax County pal in his first week on Marino's bag. "You're sleeping in that."

"I'm not changing it," Stacy promised. "I'm not washing my hair, I'm not shaving, I'm not washing my armpits. I'm wearing the same clothes all week, you can count on that. Look for the pink flamingos. You will not see anyone else here wearing this."

"For a reason," said fellow Marino fan Ryan Niethamer. "Because it's heinous."

The Marino fans -- like Marino, alums of W.T. Woodson High -- were holding court outside Congressional's practice green, shortly after Marino made his triumphant return to the clubhouse, and then to the media center for a "meet your current leader" news conference. I asked him about his gallery, which another reporter had described as "boisterous."

"Yeah, I've got some crazy fans," Marino said.

This is notable, because they were surrounded by a coursewide crowd that could best be described as "polite." But the Marino crew, which has been playing golf together since elementary school, promised to change that. Last year, the fans were rowdy enough in supporting Marino at Congressional that another pro told them "that's enough" in his grown-up voice. Stacy responded by ripping off his shirt and flexing.

In between promising to bring a gallery of five dozen rowdies for the second round, the friends told long-ago stories of Marino. Like how Stacy and Marino would get yelled at by the pro at the Country Club of Fairfax for blasting range balls more than 350 yards into a red barn, on private property. Or how they called Marino "Captain Klutz," because of his astounding lack of coordination, how he once fell off a bridge into a creek while golfing.

"Swear to God, I don't know how he did it," said Dave Wisemiller.

"The guy can't play basketball to save his life, can't hit a jump shot to save his life," Stacy said.

"And basketball's his favorite sport," said Niethamer, who has traveled to every tournament Marino has played this season.

"We have no idea how he's on the PGA Tour," Stacy concluded.